Taken II: Drifter
by slytherincailin
Summary: Sequel to Taken. Draco grinned and took the baby into his arms, careful of the delicate silver fins which flared at the sudden movement from the infant's arms and legs. "Hello my son," he whispered, baffled for a moment that something so perfect could actually belong to him. "Hello Scorpius." AU Creature!fic Slash Mpreg OC (minor character death) *story changed 13.12.2012.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: ** The following is a work of fan-fiction based upon the world and characters of Harry Potter which are owned exclusively by J. K. Rowling. The following stories contains reference content to places, people, animals and situations which are located with the books of Harry Potter, a published source owned by J. K. Rowling and publishers. The following is not an attempt to claim the world of Harry Potter, though original characters have been created. This is primarily a work of fan-fiction written for the enjoyment of other writers and fans who come across it.

Chapter One:

Being a pirate, Draco Malfoy had often had good cause to fear for his own life. It had never bothered him before. Such was the dangers which came with the job. He had often battled it out with the roughest of sea-criminals, sometimes in less than appealing circumstances.

Such was his outward mask of indifference in situations that brought any other man to his knees that both his crew and his father regarded him as a man incapable of terror.

Which was why Lucius Malfoy was now laughing at the look of horror on his son's face.

"Relax, Draco," the captain soothed, slinging a sun-burned arm over his only son's shoulders, "It's natural for Harry to say such things."

Draco paled considerably and cringed as a hoarse cry met his ears. "He'll never forgive me."

Lucius chuckled deeply and let his son squirm from his grasp and make his way towards the water. His gaze caught sight of his wife scowling at him from feet away and he snapped his lips shut over his laughter.

"Shame on you," Hermione scolded, attempting to hoist herself up from the white sand that littered the beach of the island with the help of Ginny. Her stomach was rounded with child, a sight which caused a grin to spread across Lucius' lips, despite the frown on his lover's brow. "You should understand better what he is going through, Lucius. Harry's name-calling is becoming indecently brutal."

Ginny snorted, the red-headed Allura passing the baby in her arms to Shota in order to help Hermione up properly. "'tisn't the worst I've heard, Hermione," the smaller woman grunted at the extra weight, grinning in triumph when Hermione was finally on her feet. "Harry's in the final steps of labour, I'm surprised he hasn't tried to hit Draco yet."

Shota rolled his eyes and grinned at Lucius, tucking the tiny infant securely into the crook of his arm. For the life of him, the blonde pirate could not recall the baby's name. The captain turned his gaze to the edges of the beach. His son and Harry were submerged in the water, Draco's face an unhealthy tinge of green. Luna paddled behind the pair, occasionally ruffling Harry's hair in support, though the boy looked about fit to launch at her. Harry's mother, Delana was coaxing the boy through the birth. Lucius avoided his eyes quickly.

It wasn't that he was not fascinated. Quite the opposite. He was keen to understand the workings of a breeder, a male who could give birth. The Allura's method of having the entire family there for the birth, however, was a concept that was alien to him and left him vaguely uncomfortable.

"Do stop fidgeting, Lucius, or I will be forced to restrain you."

Lucius' lips curved into a subtle smile. "Ah, I had been certain you would take every opportunity to be near your beloved."

Severus chuckled darkly, his black eyes locking with the captain's before flitting off to stare at James, a creature Severus had become enthralled with. "He is hesitant to leave his son behind, even though the lad has begged him to begin a life of his own. Time, though, I need only time to make him mine completely. Where's the wolf?"

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Had you come on my ship instead of my son's, you would know that Neville is with Fleur and her brother. The lad's wing is healing still, an injury which has the woman much distressed. The boy should be flying at this point but still he is land-bound. Ron chose to remain with them in the manor, for reasons best known to himself."

Severus hummed in thought, his gaze darkening as a piercing cry cut the air, causing Draco to all but swoon in the water. "The man has never gotten over what Riddle put him through. He is marked for it. Do you believe he will take Draco up on his offer to help captain the Siren?"

"The Siren's Bell," Lucius corrected with a short smile, "That boy should have never let Luna name his first ship. Yes, I do believe so. Ron may pine for a life he once imagined with Harry but he is nothing if not loyal to Draco. That man would die for my son."

###

Draco felt his stomach heave uncomfortably, his silver eyes locked on Harry's still face.

"Harry?" he whispered, "please?"

One bright green eye opened sleepily before the smaller man grinned up at him. "Done?"

Draco felt a sob break somewhere in his throat and he nodded, a smile bright on his face. Delana chose that moment to cast the newborn upon them, dropping it wetly but gently onto Harry's chest. "Well done, sweetheart," she whispered, kissing her son softly, "a beautiful boy."

Draco's grin widened to the point where he feared his cheeks would split, his hand reaching out slowly to stroke one pale finger down the side of the baby's face. His son.

Green eyes opened slowly, staring up at him with a cross frown, as if to berate him for interrupting his time with his mother. Draco chuckled gently, staring into eyes so similar and Harry crooned gently. The infant's skin, though wet, was flawlessly pale, with not a single scale to mark him as other.

"Is he human?" Draco asked suddenly, his eyes snapping up to meet Delana's as she carded a hand through her son's dark hair. She smirked and shook her head. "Look at his ears, Draco, he is a breeder. Though I do not understand why he has no scales..."

"It doesn't matter," Harry said, kissing the baby's white curls, "he's perfect." He met Draco's proud gaze with a wry smile. "I do believe the name you wanted fits him rather perfectly, much as I hate to admit it."

Draco grinned and took the baby into his arms, careful of the delicate silver fins which flared at the sudden movement from the infant's arms and legs. There would be no mistaking Scorpius as anything but exotic.

"Hello my son," he whispered, baffled for a moment that something so perfect could actually belong to him. "Hello Scorpius."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Gabriel growled, frustrated, as his wing dipped too low and sent him off balance. He hit the ground swiftly, though not as painfully as the many times before when he had reached a taller height. He saw his sister advance through clouded eyes, his tears finally finding a way out.

"It's hopeless," he snarled, wincing when Neville straightened his wing out to check for further damage. "I'll never fly again."

Fleur crooned softly in comfort, her arms wrapping around the eleven-year-old and petting his hair softly. He had cropped his straight hair short, allowing the pale gold strands to sit below his ears. Blue eyes were narrowed in defeat and avoiding the concerned and pitying gazes of those he had come to regard as his family.

Fleur hummed softly against his ear. "You will fly again, but only when you really want to Gabriel," she held a hand up when he began to protest, her blue eyes hard. "You are frightened, and I understand. You can only give these things time my brother. Be strong."

He nodded gruffly as she began to stand, dragging him up with her. Neville gave him a look of support, his yellow eyes glinting as the overhead sun spilled over the green grounds that surrounded Malfoy Manor. A sudden shriek drew the trio's attention.

"Ga!"

Fleur snorted and stroked her brother's hair, marvelling at the height he had achieved in the past year. "His majesty demands your attention, brother dear. I must return to Jean Paul but I shall see you soon. Remember," she whispered, bending low, "stay strong."

"I will Fleur," Gabriel's smile was less forced, his eyes already leaving hers to land on Scorpius. The year old child was seated between his father's legs on the grass, his frustration at being restricted aimed at his favourite playmate, Gabriel. Another infant sat quietly in her mother's arms not two feet away, disinterested in all her surroundings as she stared at life through silver eyes.

The younger Veela rushed at the platinum-haired baby and plucked him up, grinning at the shrieks of delight that were caused by the sudden action. Scorpius was small for a year-old child, with white curls and a ready scowl for those who dared deny him something.

"He is going to be a handful."

Fleur quirked an eyebrow at the blonde who had spoken, her wings fluttering as the strange energy that was Luna Lovegood sparked against her own magic. "Most certainly, Luna," the Veela murmured, "how are you?"

Luna smiled up happily, her face unmarked by any kind of sorrow. "I am perfectly happy, Fleur. As soon as Rose and Scorpius are old enough we will back on our ship. I'm sure Harry will be glad to return to the water."

Fleur chuckled, "Indeed. Is it true that Hermione wishes to remain at home with Rose?"

Luna nodded softly, her gaze drifting over each body that lingered in the garden, soaking in the heat of the sun or seated in the shadows of the trees. "Yes. Hermione and Rose will be staying at the manor throughout Rose's young life. Lucius, however, wishes to continue with his ship until he can no longer lift a finger. I do believe Severus will follow him to the ends of the earth, and no doubt steal James' heart on his way there."

Fleur's lip quirked in amusement, her nose lifting as she detected the subtle change in the wind. "What of Draco's ship? Surely he will not wish to be apart from his sister for too long." Luna's smile softened, her eyes locked on the afore mentioned blonde as he scooped his younger sister Rosie from his step-mother's arms. "Draco and Harry will set sail with Scorpius, Ron, Neville and myself, but you can be assured that we will return like clockwork to see the manor."

She gazed up slowly, her mouth turning down in a grim line. "I will miss this place as a permanent home, but I doubt if the likes of us were built for a steady life." The grin she offered the Veela was swift before Luna darted away to clasp hands with Neville.

Fleur offered Draco a subtle glance in way of goodbye before spreading her wings wide and taking to the skies.

###

Harry watched Fleur depart from his seat in the grass, his green eyes narrowed against the sudden breeze. "She's not one for goodbyes, that one, is she?"

Gabriel sighed and brought his face down to smile at Harry, Scorpius clutched tightly in his arms. "My sister has never been one for goodbyes, Harry." His face saddened suddenly and he handed the baby back to his father with a gentle shake of his head. "She wishes for me to live in the south, beyond Diagon, with the other Veela families nesting there. They have already welcomed me to join them until I am fully healed again."

Scorpius gave a harsh yelp as though he could understand the words and Gabriel grinned and tweaked his chin up playfully. Harry watched on with little amusement. "Does that mean I will not be coming home to your face when we leave for the sea?"

Gabriel smiled, despite the twitch in his left eye that belied the happy demeanour and made Harry aware of the pain beneath. "I'm afraid so. I don't know for how many years I'll be with them but I can guarantee I will not be around to watch this little man grow up. I can only hope Fleur will stay in contact and tell me how everyone is."

_I'll be sure to keep her in contact. _Harry's reply was to only the Veela and the Allura grinned when he received an answering smirk of amusement from somewhere in the clouds, high above. Fleur may not have been one for goodbyes, but she could always be depended upon to hover above and watch them until night took over.

Draco dropped beside the pair softly, groaning as he did so. Harry grinned up at him happily. "You're getting old, love." The blonde pirate snorted and deposited the sleeping bundle that was his sister into Gabriel's lap. "Hardly. And never as old as the two vampires sulking in the shadows."

"I heard that, brat." Severus' dark voice replied from his seat beside Lucius beneath the giant Oak tree. Lucius chuckled as he held out a chair for Hermione to join them."So long as my sword is sharp and my ship can sail, I'll never be old."

Draco gave a small salute in acknowledgment to his father's too-true words and wrapped an arm around his mate, drawing both Harry and Scorpius closer. Ron seemed to appear from nowhere, dropping to his knees soundlessly beside Gabriel. Draco quirked an eyebrow in his direction.

"Won't be long now, Ron and we shall be back to sea. Will you be ready to take on whatever creatures we might face?"

Ron snorted, drawing his long auburn curls to one side to braid slowly as the sun drifted across his lilac tinged fins. "I'm not your bodyguard, Malfoy," he replied with a smirk, "and with creatures coming into a right of their own in this world, 'tis doubtful we'll see any wanting a fight."

Draco hummed softly, his gaze locked on the soft white curls atop his son's head. "I wouldn't be so quick to put them all in the placid category. Even the nicest of men can turn sour given the circumstances."

The group was cast into sudden silence as the sun vanished behind a cloud, dousing the manor garden into near darkness. The sombre mood was broken only by the occasional chirp of a bird and Scorpius' quiet nattering.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Nineteen Years Later:

"Damn it, Scorpius, be still!"

"Unhand my hair, woman!"

He ducked and shut his eyes, expecting a sudden blow to the back of his head for showing disrespect. When he received none, he slid his eyes open cautiously to see his grandmother still braiding his hair, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Ah," Hermione sighed softly, "You sound just like your father." The woman tugged on one slender braid sharply, elicting a sharp yelp from the near-twenty-year-old. "And that's for your cheek."

Scorpius grumbled hotly as he stood from the kitchen table, carding his fingers through his hair, which was now littered with dozens of small, beaded braids. "I'm not above telling father of this abuse, Grandmother."

Hermione snorted in amusement and tucked a strand of grey hair behind one ear, the wrinkles on her cheeks deepening as she grinned up at him. Scorpius could not help but smile back, his green eyes level with her big, brown ones. It was only the colour of her eyes which Aunt Rose had not inherited.

"Go on," Hermione said suddenly, waving her arms and sending the small man scurrying backwards, "say good morning to your Papa and then off with you, you chose to stay at the manor you'll have to entertain yourself."

Scorpius rolled his eyes as he started up the creaking staircase, his white hands brushing against the aging wallpaper, brittle beneath his touch. Of course he had chosen to stay. It wasn't as though he could leave Papa here alone.

He ducked his head around the second bedroom on the first floor landing, smiling softly when a pale face turned against the pillows to glance in his direction. "Hello, Papa, how are you this morning?"

"Your Grandmother has you checking up on me now aswell, has she? Well, Scorpius, I can assure you that I am fine." Harry was propped against a cluster of pillows, his midnight dark hair a cascade of soft curls that only served to enhance his pale skin. He grinned softly from where he had hoisted himself against the headboard, a book propped upon a lap covered with several blankets, blankets which did nothing to hide the swell of the older Allura's stomach.

"Grandmother Hermione would disagree with you after that fall you had last week," Scorpius replied cheerfully, pulling his father's bed-curtains open to allow in more light. "You were left with a nasty bruise and you gave us a scare, Papa, it's no laughing matter. Had Father seen you fall he would have you wrapped in tissue paper and hidden until the birth. Neville even wanted to stay here to take care of you, and would have had Ron not kicked him onto the Siren."

Harry merely chuckled happily, the sound loud and clear in the large room. "I'll be up and sailing again in no time, you'll see. Any word from the sea?"

Scorpius sighed. "Not as of yet, but I assure you, Papa, Father is fine. He is strong, he'll make it back in due time and in good health. It is Grandfather I worry about. That man is far too sick to be back on the sea. To think, even having a heart attack could not bind him to home!"

Harry answered with a gentle smile, "Lucius is a pirate, Scorpius, he was born one and he will die one. We can only hope that Severus stops any of his more foolish antics." His Papa sighed suddenly, his green eyes becoming clouded as he turned his face away from his son. "I only want for Draco to return. It is… unnerving to be away from him after what happened with Kylta."

Scorpius winced internally, his heart giving a pained thump in memory of his father's last pregnancy and the grief that had encompassed it. Though he had been only five at the time, he would always feel sorrow for the brother who had been taken from him after only a handful of days.

"Kylta was gone before he ever had a chance to know this world, Papa."

Harry gave a soft smile. "I know, my son, and though I still mourn him I have moved on. His place was never to grow up with me. Let's hope that this one is a little bit stronger than their brother."

###

Ron stared out over the churning waters at the black speck in the distance that had becoming an increasing worry. His brow furrowed, his hair whipping in the fierce breeze to the point where he contemplated cutting it.

"They're still following us?"

James was by his side in an instant, set on edge by the younger Allura's dark attitude. Ron gave a curt nod before opening his mouth. "Luna!" he yelled, pushing away from the wooden wall of the ship and almost barrelling into the short blonde. She stared up at him with troubled eyes.

"They're blocking me."

Ron stared at the woman, bewildered. "What do you mean they're blocking you? You have visions, how can you block visions?"

"I don't know!" Luna's usually calm demeanour had been lost, her confusion evident in the near panic in her blue eyes. "I don't know," she reapeated with a shaky breath, "they can't all be human on that ship and if they are actively trying to prevent my magic then we can only assume they are enemies."

"Could it be Riddle?" James asked, his hazel eyes wide as he scanned the deck for his mate, drawing comfort in the sight of the dark haired man making his way towards them with Draco and Lucius.

"Impossible," Ron growled, "we found his scent buried in the ashes of Riddle manor with all of his lackies. Riddle is dead."

Draco's mask was in place, his silver gaze hard as he watched the approaching ship. He glanced at Ron through narrowed eyes and the redhead felt a grim knowledge settle in his stomach. "There's nothing we can do but watch them approach is there?"

Draco shook his head slowly, his mouth a thin line. "Fleur is visiting her brother, she was our only means of scanning that ship and with Luna blind, we all are. We may have an advantage should they try to board but we cannot rely on that. Be ready."

James let loose a shaky sigh that was smothered as Severus drew the smaller man into his chest. He would not lose the Allura now after all that he had been through to claim him as his own. Ron saw the determination like a spark in his coal-black eyes, undimmed with age. Though grey littered his once black hair, Severus remained in better shape than Lucius, a protection for the former captain and his son when all else failed.

Luna made her way to find Neville, her blue eyes hard as flint, offended that one would use their magic to block another's. Ron met Draco's silver gaze, the frown that had been with him from the start smoothing out as an apology settled over his features.

Draco shook his head once, his features determined. No apologies. Offering sympathies now would be worse than giving in. Only time would tell whether they would all make it out of this.

###

Kylta: A phonetic pronunciation of the Irish word Caillte meaning Lost


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: 

It was to utter silence that Fleur landed aboard the Siren the following evening.

It was a silence she had heard only once before in her life and one she had hoped never to come across again.

She froze as her feet touched a deck wounded by scratch marks, burned by magic and crackling with energy. Her wings snapped closed behind her and blue eyes scanned the ship for any source of life.

The two bodies laid across the wooden boards were unfamiliar to her, not one of Draco's crew, and so she discarded them, walking around them. Their scent followed her descent into the belly of the ship, sweet and rotting and reawakening her nightmares.

The scent filled the lower deck and here she found others, some familiar, some not. Some slain by sword and musket, others by a magic not unlike Luna's. For a brief moment she pondered whether the witch had gone mad, before casting the thought aside. Luna would sooner kill herself. The magical signature that clung to the air was new to her, thick with mildew and death and evil.

It was with a sense of dread that she pushed open the doors to the dining hall, only to heave a sigh of relief. Life.

Luna and Neville greeted her first, their faces exhausted and littered with cuts.

"What happened?" Fleur whispered, her voice unable to mask the horror she was feeling. Only half of what had been Draco's crew remained crammed into the room, all in need of some form of healing, most injuries ones Neville could not tend to alone.

Luna let loose a broken sob, the first sound the Veela had ever heard the girl emmit that was not a laugh.

"I don't know," she rasped, her voice broken and hoarse and completely furious, "they were everywhere, full of magic and power and they took every bit of hope and happiness away."

Neville captured the broken blonde in his arms, mindful of the magical burns that littered the woman's small hands. "Dementors, Fleur. The ship which attacked us had dementors, two of them. Luna couldn't handle them on her own. Their captain was a witch and she didn't care who we were or where we were going. It seems we got too close to what she considered her territory. She did this as punishment."

Fleur stood still, her ears straining over the moans of pain and the weeping of some of the younger men. "I've never heard of a witch who controls these waters." Fleur's voice was level, but dark in its anger. Dementors were foul creatures, monsters created by dark magic-users who ended up dying in the end. She had heard of them but never before would she have thought that she or any of her family would be touched by them.

"How many dead?" Fleur asked as a distraction, her gaze catching sight of Severus as he cradled a wounded and bleeding James in his arms. Luna's breath hitched, her head lowering as Neville looked away. "Many." He answered hoarsely.

Fleur opened her mouth to demand a better answer, when her gaze locked with one the colour of blue flowers.

Ron stared at her, shock plain in the blank cast of his face as he clutched the limp, blue hand of a man who had obviously been dead for some time. Despite her bravery, Fleur's advance in Ron's direction was hesitant, slow. When she cast blue eyes down upon the figure that lay surrounded by his men, a broken sob left her lips.

"Draco…?"

Ron nodded his head to where the ship's Healer was bent over a pale body sprawled across the ground, before he brought dark eyes back to the dead figure of Lucius Malfoy, the older man's ice cold hand still clutched in his own, as though he could offer the body new life. "He's alive, but we can't wake him. I've no idea what that witch did but we must get him home. He'll need Harry if he has any chance of waking up."

###

"They're back early!"

Scorpius heard his father's elated cry and grinned at the sound of Harry running down the stairs, which was met with the sound of Hermione berating Harry for running down the stairs in his condition. He chuckled happily and glanced out the window. From his perch he saw his father rush from the back porch to meet Ron in an embrace, the redhead's arms unusually rigid.

Luna hesitated only a moment before dropping her head and making her way slowly towards the house. Scorpius frowned. It was not an unusual thing for his sire to be the last onto the manor grounds, his need to make sure the ship was secured perfectly always causing him to lag behind. However, Ron was leading his Papa from the manor, the red head's stance quivering despite the heat of the sun.

Something was wrong. Scorpius flew from his room swiftly, fleeing from Luna's attempt to grasp his arm and pull him back. He needed to know what was wrong. What had happened? Where was everyone else?

He watched them from behind the thick trees that littered the Malfoy manor grounds, the air sweet with the smell of honeysuckle as a summer sun filtered through the canopy of leaves and turned everything around him green.

Perfectly green.

Forest green.

Emereld green.

His eyes were narrowed, dark lashes casting shadows over cheeks the colour of pearl. His hair cascaded behind him, a waterfall of soft curls the colour of warm clouds and oyster shells. His fins flared subtly, silver and fine and sensitive in the soft breeze that swayed the leaves above his head. The pair in the meadow just beyond the manor's garden embraced, the smaller one's shoulders shaking as he tried to still his sobs.

"What are you doing, Scorpius?"

The white-haired beauty glanced behind him to see the young women that had spoken, a handful of months younger than himself though she liked to pretend she was older. Her hair was pushed into a ponytail, brown and fluffy as eyes the colour of chipped silver watched him suspiciously. His lips stretched into a lazy smirk.

"Waiting.. Aunt Rose... I am waiting."

Rose looked stumped by the reply, her eyes sparking with curiosity in a way that was so like her mother, Grandmother Hermione.

"Waiting for what?"

Scorpius brought his gaze back to the pair in the meadow, his emerald green eyes landing on the taller red head as his father, Harry, continued to sob.

"Waiting to be told the bad news."

Rose frowned at him, clearly not in the mood for games. "What bad news, Scorpius, what's wrong?"

Scorpius seemed to have been enveloped in a calmness. A certainty washed over him, one he had felt only once before, when he had looked into the eyes of his baby brother and known that the infant would die.

"Someone is dead."

Rose gasped, her hands rising to cover her mouth. "Do not say such things!" she growled out hotly, grasping his arm in an attempt to pull him away from the trees. "Let's go inside and wait for them all, shall we?"

Scorpius allowed himself to be pulled into the manor, to be seated at the kitchen table where both his Grandmother and Luna were sitting silently. Hermione's hands were pale as she grasped her mug, her eyes unblinking as, through the window, she watched the steady approach of the ship's crew and the two figures they carried between them.

Rose faltered at the sight, her breath stilling when the men entered behind Severus and James and both Her father and her brother were laid upon the kitchen floor.

"It's true, isn't it?"

The whisper was near silent but each of them heard it spill from the brunette's lips, her silver eyes locking with the body that had once been her sire, her own body bent as though she wanted nothing more than to reach out and grasp her father, whilst also longing to run away from it.

Severus cleared his throat, his eyes dark with something painful, something dark. "I'm afraid so, Rose. Lucius is gone."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: 

Two weeks.

It had been two long, stressful weeks since the arrival of his grandfather's body and since his sire had arrived home in a coma.

Scorpius was beginning to believe he would never see the light of day.

Even Luna, beautiful, cheerful Luna who had forever been their guide, their sight and their friend, had left them. The reasons why she had left them were unknown. They had simply awoken one morning to find both the witch and her mate, Neville gone. Vanished. Taken from them as suddenly as Lucius had been.

Not that the occupants of Malfoy Manor had spared the disappearance much thought. Hermione and Rose were faded somehow, a portion of them lost in a way Scorpius doubted they would ever find again. James and Severus were no help, though the young Allura had not expected them to be. Truthfully, with Lucius dead and Draco lost to a coma, Scorpius had assumed James would coerce the older man back to the island he had hailed from. That was not the case. The pair remained, probably for some desperate hope that Draco would awaken.

Scorpius watched them , his pale fingers gripping tight to the door panel of the bedroom where his sire was lying, his Papa's sleeping form curled around the pale pirate. James and Severus sat beside the sleeping pair, their eyes desperate, tired. It was this scene that Scorpius gazed onto as he suddenly found himself falling, blackness seeping into his vision as he lost his grip and fell with a gentle, quiet thump to the carpeted floor.

###

This was a familiar place.

This place of scentless smoke, unlifting fog and a colourless… everything.

He tilted his head skywards only to be met with the same thick fog that clogged his senses and left him bodiless, weightless, an essence of his true self.

The gentle coo to his right gripped his attention and he turned swiftly. Green eyes softened as they landed on the scene before him. In this place where everything seemed made of nothing, his grandfather sat beside his sire, a young child held in the crook of his arm.

Draco raised sad eyes to Scorpius, his hand lifting from where he had been stroking the child's cheek. "You really shouldn't be in places like this, Scorpius. It is in places like these that we lose ourselves, that we move from one life to the next. What are you doing here?"

Scorpius fluttered his fingers before his face, watching with a soft smile as they became firm, filled with colour. "I dream of this place, Father, it's the only place I can come when the outside world has upset me. You intend on leaving us?"

Draco smiled, a shadow of the smile Scorpius was so used to. "Never. I would never leave you." His gaze landed once more on his own father, and on the baby held so gently in Lucius' arms. "I only wished to say goodbye, a proper goodbye."

"And so you have," Scorpius whispered, reaching out his hand as colour swirled within it, the only link to life in this place where the dead waited to say goodbye. "But Lucius and Kylta must go now and you must come back home."

Draco cast one last, sorrowful look at his father, smiling when the older pirate grinned at him and waved the baby's arm in a gesture of simple parting. With that he sighed and took hold of Scorpius' hand.

Scorpius awoke to the sound of shouting, of Rose's elated shrieks and his Papa yelling his name. He rose from where he had been crouched against the hallway wall, his head still thick with sleep. Rose grasped his arm as she hauled him to his feet, a swift question of "are you okay?" the only indication that she was perplexed as to why he had been asleep in a hallway, before she tore him through the bedroom door and cast him upon the bed.

Scorpius landed with a sharp hiss against his Papa, who wrapped slender arms around him, tears in his green eyes and a smile on his face as he pointed to the pale man who was slowly coming back to life on the bed they were laying on.

"He's awake, oh, Scorpius, your sire is awake."

###

"I still don't see how this will benefit me more than staying at the manor, Scorpius."

The pale haired Allura took one final glimpse at the horizon as the sun sank beneath the water's edge and darkness fell around them. They would reach their destination within the hour if the tide remained on their side.

He turned to his father with a small smile. "The manor holds nothing for you, Papa and father agrees with me. There you can only remember Lucius' death and Draco's injuries and it is not good for you or the baby. Baby needs someplace full of happy memories and life and Aunt Rose and Grandmother need itme alone to heal."

"Your son is very wise, Harry, it would do well to listen to his words. Young as he may be, Scorpius has always known what is best for you. Going home will do you nothing but good."

James tweaked the smaller Allura's dark curls, a smirk lighting his hazel eyes. Harry sighed and scowled at his uncle. "I know it and I am happy to be going home, but what life will Draco and I have there? He can hardly follow me into the water!"

James merely shrugged, a carefree smile affixed to his features. "We'll work something out. Both for you and Draco and for Severus and I. It will be good to see Lupin again."

Scorpius' perked his head upwards in interest. "Your son? He still lives there?" James nodded softly. "Lupin has always been attached to his home, I doubt he would ever find just cause to leave it."

"Not to mention he's too bloody weird to exist anywhere but at home."

James growled as Ron made his way towards them, his red hair braided back tightly and a devious smirk on his face as Harry dissolved into laughter. "You watch your mouth, Ronald! You're not too old for Molly to be told of your antics."

Scorpius couldn't help but grin himself as James' threat caused the Allura's ears to turn a fetching shade of pink.

###

The island was beautiful. Of course, Scorpius had expected it to be so from his father's recollections and indeed it was, if not more so. It was bright and open and colourful even with the blanket of night and doused in the softest, whitest sand he had ever seen. But for the group making their way from the anchored Siren into the forest, there was one sight that made the island all the more beautiful.

"Luna!"

Harry's ecstatic yell, followed by Draco's, "How the bloody hell did she get here?" sent the pale witch into a peal of laughter as she welcomed the hugs offered to her and held her hand up to stave off the questioning. "There was something I needed to do here while you were all collecting yourselves, and as for how I got here, Draco, I borrowed one of your lesser ships. I knew you wouldn't mind. Now come! Come, I've something to show you! Shota and your mother have been so helpful, Harry, I never would have finished it in time if they hadn't helped me… Look!"

She had led them beyond the worn trail of the forest, towards the beach closest the Allura's underwater village until they came upon a small wooden cottage. Neville appeared by the open doorway, a smile on his pale face as he leaned against the archway that led into the home.

"I never did get to give you a gift for your bonding, Harry, but I knew you'd return here with Draco and I thought it would make things easier. Do you like it?"

And it was at that point that everything became too much for the small Allura as Harry wrapped pale arms around his swollen stomach and burst into tears.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

Scorpius groaned as arms once more found their way around his waist, tugging him fiercely and to the point where he feared his ribs would bend.

"Papa, it isn't as though I'll be gone forever!"

Harry shushed him with a look, the spark of something in his eyes making Scorpius smile despite the sad nature of the hug. Harry drew away with a sigh, one hand straying to the bump that was slowly becoming more defined beneath his tunic. "My son is leaving, I am allowed to hold onto our goodbye for as long as I deem fit. I want you to always stay near a coastline Score, Diagon may not be as it once was but every big town is a nest for criminal activity."

Scorpius nodded obediently, having already heard this lecture from his father. Ron smiled at him from a short distance away, his scales scattered across his chest as he spoke quietly to Luna. The family Scorpius had just begun to know surrounded him, their faces now as familiar and as safe to him as Hermione's and Rose's had been. James and Severus left him to his goodbye's as they moved with Neville and two other Allura to equip the vessel for the journey.

Scorpius turned to glance at his father's ship, the ship that would take him on his first journey from his family. The Siren. He sighed and shook his head at the strangeness of it all. Life was happening rapidly around him and the full impact of all that had happened had yet to drown him. He could survive on his own.

Draco moved from his son to drag Harry into a solid embrace, his gaze skimming over Scorpius' breathless form as he did. In the early glow of the golden sun the Allura looked like some Godly statue, so alike both himmself and Harry in every feature of his face and body.

"Are you sure we should let him go off like this Harry? What if his Heat kicked in?" His tone was panicked, as if the thought had just occurred to him, though he had voiced it on more than one occasion in the past week. Harry looked back at his son, his lips lifting in a sad smile. "Had he been capable of having a Heat it would have hit him months ago, love, I explained this. I think it's safe to assume that in the aspect of hormones, Scorpius is more man than Allura."

Luna nodded sagely as she approached them, her blue eyes bright. "A good observation, Harry. He doesn't crave salty foods like you and Ron do, nor does he have scales. Scorpius is a rather perfect blend of creature and human, taking the best from both sides." Harry dropped his hands to his stomach, rubbing gently, "then I can only hope you take after your brother, little one," he whispered. The life was near frantic now beneath his palm, coiling in his stomach like a worm as though it could feel an adventure in sight. Harry grimaced. "This one is going to give me trouble."

It was with a watery smile that Harry watched his friends and his only son board the ship, his grip tightening on Draco as he waved frantically. Scorpius waved back with a smile and a gentle shake of his head, his eyes never leaving both his sire and his father as the ship began to lurch away from the island swiftly, until he could see their faces no more. His parents would be alright, they had Ron and the family to guard them. And with Luna and Severus in charge of the Siren and on a coarse for open waters, he would not have to look far for help if Diagon let him down.

Scorpius felt Luna step up beside him and turned to the blonde, his eyebrow quirking when he saw that her eyes had faded to a clouded white. His friend was trapped in something none of them could see.

"Lucius says he's said goodbye to you already. He'll be going for good now. Do you understand?"

Scorpius sighed. He knew his Grandfather had lingered in the world between worlds for as long as he possibly could, offering words of wisdom to Luna and a gentle presence to ease Harry's sobs in the night when Draco had been no more than a body in a bed. He had known that the man would not hang around forever, nor did he wish him to. Scorpius had made peace with the passing of the pirate and now wished only an eternity of happiness for both Lucius and his baby brother in the Otherworld. "I understand."

Luna paused, cocking her head as though listening to something new, a strange sound. She frowned.

"You've got an angel on the lookout for you."

It was with those words that Luna made her way back towards the cabins of the ship, leaving Scorpius to frown in her wake and to contemplate what on Earth she had meant.

###

Diagon was a far cry from his home at Hogsmeade. Whereas that had been a simple village, this was a far busier town. He had been dropped off only a short time ago, after days of calm weather and smooth sailing. As he stood on the edge of the noisy town a dark cloud approached from the distance, making him uneasy.

Though he wore only a simple tunic and trousers tucked into soft boots, it was needless to say that he stuck out painfully. As he walked the cobbled streets, his eyes skimming each person and gazing curiously at the shops that decorated the streets, he drew the attention of everyone. Not for the first time, Scorpius wished he had been blessed with a plain face and comely hair. With a mane of white and green eyes that brought a few woman to a halt, he was a target for those who admired pretty things.

His thoughts were confirmed when he turned a corner and was suddenly dragged downwards by a beggar. His back bent so that he kept his feet, his arm twisting painfully as the man grinned at him toothily. The man was older and quite a deal stronger, with dirty clothes and the scent of rot and disease. He chuckled and patted his own cheek when Scorpius tried to pull away, clearly insane.

"Let go of me, sir!" Scorpius hissed, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself than was necessary. The man clucked his tongue against his yellow teeth, his head shaking childishly while he mumbled words to himself. Scorpius was about to let one fin slide loose and startle the beggar when a voice hollered behind him.

"Oi! You let him go, Rumi, or it'll be t' the stocks with yeh again!"

The man released him at the voice, ducking his shaggy head and Scorpius glanced behind him to see the approach of a fiery-haired woman. She was, perhaps, no older than he was in years, though life had not been kind to her. Lines of weariness as well as laugh lines adorned her pretty face and her brown eyes were suspicious as she scowled at the old man. When she turned her gaze to Scorpius, however, her smile was large and made her quite beautiful.

"Hello there, gorgeous," she grinned up at him, her wild curls offering her only millimetres of much-needed height. She placed her hands on well-rounded hips, the wide dress she wore one of brilliant yellow. "You're def'nitely not from 'round 'ere. What's yer name?"

Scorpius could do little but smile back at her warmth, his senses calming at the sound of her rough and welcoming accent. "Scorpius," he said with a small bow, earning himself a giggle of appreciation. "I am from Hogsmeade, I've only recently arrived here."

The red head looked him up and down before sticking out a work-hardened hand which he shook happily. "My name's Roro, gorgeous, and if yer in need of a place ter stay, there's room and food in the Hog's Head. They's who I work fer."

Seeing no other option as the sky above him threatened to flood the streets at any moment, he nodded politely and gestured for Roro to lead the way, his smile widening as she continued to chatter pointlessly throughout their journey.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

The Hogshead was a place truly deserving of its name. It was a small, unflattering homestead built some time ago and refuge to the weary traveller, or those incapable of affording a hot meal. Despite the lack lustre shell it was, the interior was bright and warm and saturated in hues of red and brown, all of which allowed a small smile to flitter across Scorpius' face.

"Roro!"

Scorpius jumped at the sudden bellow, his eyes spanning across the cosy lounge to land on a wooden table around which was seated a group of young people. They watched him warily as he approached behind the flouncing redhead, five sets of eyes which seemed at once suspicious and curious.

Roro seated herself beside a tall girl with a round face, beckoning for the Allura to follow her and sit himself on the stool she tugged over from a neighbouring table. The lounge was near empty, with only a handful of men seated tiredly or slumped across the bar table that spanned the length of one wall. A woman stood behind the bar, twirling a dishcloth absently in her hand as she refilled drink after drink.

Scorpius pulled his gaze back to the table of young people in time to hear Roro announce his name. He kept his face impassive, unsure of whether he would be welcomed by this crowd or sneered at. A boy with colourless black eyes caught his determined gaze, his pale face tilting to the side curiously so that shoulder-length hair the colour of black satin fell across one cheek. He grinned suddenly.

"You're an Allura."

Scorpius felt his lip twitch of its own accord, the desire to scowl at the youth a powerful one. "Why would you think that?" he asked with a forced calm, only to have the strange-eyed boy chuckle at him.

"Don't get so defensive," he sighed, gesturing with a hand as though to wave away Scorpius' fears. "I'd know my kind anywhere." He raised an arm to the tabletop as he spoke, twisting it to show Scorpius the sudden flare of a reddish fin as it left his skin. The blonde watched the display with wide eyes which drifted back up to capture the stranger's black gaze. "You don't smell like family."

The younger boy laughed, his nose crinkling in a way Scorpius could only find endearing. "I suppose I wouldn't," he said with a genuine laugh, earning smiles from his friends, "The Allura blood in me is so diluted with years of breeding with humans that the arm fins are all I have, a throwback trait that earned me a swift kick out of my family home and inheritance."

Scorpius winced in sympathy. It was not a rare thing to hear of humans so despising of creatures that they would discard their own blood. A sad thing, Scorpius had always believed, to know that perhaps creatures had been wrong to assume they could mingle with the humans. Perhaps they would have been better off in hiding. He held out a hand to grasp the part-Allura's in a firm shake, allowing his own fin to slide open at a much wider span than the stranger's. "Scorpius Malfoy," he said with a smile, "pleasure to meet you."

The youth grinned, "Well, that shows me up," he said with laugh, "my name's Regulus."

Roro was quick to introduce the remaining four, gesturing first to the round-faced brunette who she dubbed Pansy. The slightly older female nodded softly before glancing away. Two twins with hair the colour of a summer sunset were introduced as Fred and George, their twin grins putting Scorpius immediately on edge. The last, however, was probably the youngest of the group, her face not yet matured from adolescence. Her bright blue eyes and yellow hair sparked an old memory in Scorpius, one he strained to recall but could not. She introduced herself as Sparrow and stared up at Scorpius with huge eyes.

It was as Roro was retelling stories of how they had come to find one another and end up living with Madam Rosemerta that Scorpius discovered Sparrow was no ordinary little girl. He watched the other's speak, his eyes flicking to the young girl when a whisper of something flittered across his skull. The sudden noise caused him to frown and shake his head as though to ward of a fly.

The whisper came again, faint yet louder and distinctly female.

_Can you hear me?_

For a moment Scorpius frowned, certain that Fleur was speaking to him. Had he not known for a fact that the woman was away visiting people she had once lived with, he would have responded with a biting retort about her invasion of his right to live alone. As it was, he turned only slightly and quirked an eyebrow up in Sparrow's direction.

The nine-year-old flushed a deep scarlet, looking both embarrassed and triumphant, as though she had just achieved something. Perhaps she had. There was only a handful of creatures Veela could communicate telepathically with, and Sparrow had probably encountered her first.

_I can hear you little Sparrow, _Scorpius answered back, smiling when Sparrow jumped and nearly spilled her water down her front. _What is it you wish to talk about?_

Scorpius kept an ear on Roro's conversation as he waited for the reply, his eyes softening as he watched a frown of concentration deepen between the young Veela's eyes. She was so very young to be on her own, without the companionship of another like herself. Her voice sounded in his head abruptly, distinctly stronger and rushed.

_Don't trust Theo Nott. He says he will take you to a better place but he will not. We have lost brothers and sisters to him before. He preys on our poverty, our need to remain here. _

Scorpius felt his mouth draw down in a grim line. Drama was what he had been hoping to avoid with his first voyage to a new life. He had enough money on him to begin a business and search for a home, yet he could not bring himself to stand and leave at the plain terror in Sparrow's voice. The child was clearly frightened of this man, and if she was, that would mean that the others were aswell. He could not bring them all with him, but he could remain here, work here. He could keep them safe.

He caught Sparrow's blue gaze, so familiar to something he had once known, someone he must have once known. He shuddered and rose to speak to the bar woman, Madam Rosemerta. He would not leave them until he was sure they were safe. He had always been a firm believer of fate. Roro had found him for a reason. For this.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

A month had passed since Harry had last seen his son. A month since he had arrived back at his childhood home to be surrounded by those who loved him. A month since the man who had been like a father to him had been needlessly slaughtered by a woman with an ownership complex and dark magic.

Lucius not simply passed away. Not in Harry's eyes. He had been butchered, robbed of his life when everything should have been smooth sailing. It wasn't fair.

Harry rolled onto his side on the white sand that littered the beach they had come to know as their extended home. His cousin stared back at him, hazel eyes the only thing he had inherited from his Papa, James. Lupin was a conundrum to him on the easiest of days. With hair the colour of burnt wood and scales a florescent yellow, he was often odd to look upon. The Allura was slight in shape, more effeminate looking than the other males and often mistaken for a breeder, though he was not one.

"Do you think Sirius will look after Lucius?"

Harry whispered the question so as not to disturb the sleeping forms of Ron and Draco. Lupin blinked at his cousin blearily, his bright eyes catching the light of the sun with a defined glow. "I think father will have much to joke about in the Summerlands with your mate's sire by his side and your son on his knee."

Harry smiled softly at the image, his hands drifting down to run a pattern across his swollen stomach. He sighed softly at the answering kicks his child gave in response. "Lupin, why did Uncle James never find a mate after Sirius? He could have an army of children by now had he settled down sooner."

Lupin chuckled at the thought, his body twisting so that he lay on his stomach, eyes resting on Harry's face. "It was not for a lack of looking." He said, his voice becoming serious. "We Allura are a companionable people, Harry. We need family and friends to surround us, to keep us feeling happy and safe, even the most pigheaded of us." He nodded to Ron, whose hulking form looked somewhat diminished when lying amongst towering trees and pretty pink flowers. Harry chuckled as Lupin continued.

"But nobody felt right to my father. One must never simply settle with the easiest option. Papa needed a man to prove his love, to offer protection and to strive to be near him. Severus showed that quality again and again when others did not. He is a human most deserving of love, that Severus."

Harry hummed in agreement carding a hand through his black curls absently. "Does he not worry about the aging? A day will come when Severus gets old and can no longer move from a bed. He will pass away many, many years before James."

Lupin merely offered him a soft glance in response, his smile sweet. "Does it bother you knowing the same will happen with Draco, Harry?" He sighed when the question brought tears to his cousin's eyes and the smaller man vehemently shook his head, his green eyes landing onhis pale mate as Draco grunted in his sleep. Lupin wrapped slender arms around his cousin's rounded waist, drawing him close.

"Love is a funny thing. Makes you forget real life for a little while." Harry nodded, his tears leaving a hot trail down his cheeks. "Sometimes it's easiest not to dwell on the inevitable. Draco will live for many, many years yet and your child will be born safely and Scorpius will be safe. He is stronger than most give him credit for."

Harry nodded desperately, his thoughts turning from the cold truth his cousin had brought up to dwell once more on what his child could be doing now. Scorpius be safe, his mind supplied like a steady prayer, please, be safe.

###

The hand came down as swift as the guillotine knife, making a loud clapping sound against the back of Fred's head. Scorpius winced in sympathy when the boy gave a yelp of pain.

"Yeh hooligan!" shrieked Madam Rosemerta, her once white corset now doused in ale and a putrid brown colour. "I'll kill yeh if I catch yeh messin' with me ale tap ag'in! Drink's no hobby fer a boy yer age, out wit' yeh!"

Fred raced away from the bar, one hand clamped firmly over his mouth to silence the snorts of laughter threatening to escape. He darted up the rickety wooden staircase with his twin hot on his heels, their raucous laughter filling the upstairs.

Scorpius shook his head and grinned, returning the rag to the tablecloths in order to finish polishing them. He had been working in the Hogshead for a month and had invested enough money in the building to restore it to near new. The once filthy windows and tattered wallpapers had been cleaned and replaced and the lounge refurnished to an unrecognizable point. It was a place that Scorpius considered a rather immaculate piece of craftsmanship which he had helped put together.

The blonde Allura offered Rosemerta and Roro a swift salute as he went to put the polish away and both women waved in return. With the arrival of new customers, the place was now a haven for the docked pirate wishing to escape the beady eye of the ever-reaching ministry. Both women worked from dawn until dusk with a happy smile and little complaint, save for the hollers they let loose when one of the twins proved to be more burden than blessing.

It was in the now twenty year olds mind to build a stable next door from the ramshackle, abandoned shack the house had become. It would prove to be a rather handsome horse-renting place and a place where the twins could work in order to blow off steam. He would be smart to place Pansy as their treasurer, seeing as she was the only female who managed to keep the pranksters in their place.

Scorpius cast an eye over the lounge room, his grin widening at the amount of men and women chatting there. Regulus waved to him happily from a short distance away. The part-Allura had become a friend in the past weeks, someone Scorpius shared a room with and delighted in confiding in. The sharp-witted youth had been through much in his short life, from being cast aside and used as a thief to finding his way into Rosemerta's arms. It seemed as though nothing would diminish his quick smile.

"Excuse me?"

Scorpius turned at the sound of the voice to face an older man with a rather plain face and greasy hair. He plastered a fake smile across his lips. "yes, sir, how can I help you?"

The man eyed Scorpius with a brown eye, his other too encrusted with dried blood and dirt to open. He grinned at the younger man with a row of sharp, white teeth. From the corner of his eye, Scorpius saw Regulus freeze in his tracks and Roro seemed to be reaching for something beneath the bar.

"I was wondering if you would perhaps accompany me to my workplace. My employer has been most interested in what you have done with this place. He believes he can offer you a rather impressive price to work for him, instead."

The man's voice was slick and his scent put Scorpius on edge. The Allura scowled at the man. "I am not for sale, sir and I'll thank you to order or to get out."

For a moment, the man looked as though he would spit at Scorpius' feet, his mouth becoming a grim line before he smiled once more. "Very well..." he sighed. He turned swiftly, but Scorpius' eyes remained on him until the door had shut behind him. The Allura turned with a shake of his head to find Roro grasping a length of wood, her hands trembling. His eyes widened at the sight. "What..?"

"Scorpius," Roro breathed, her eyes huge and matching those of Regulus as he sidled up beside her. "Do you know who that was?"

Scorpius frowned. Should he have? He knew many pirates but not everyone who lived in Diagon. The town was far to big. "No." He answered honestly with a shrug, causing the redhead to gulp and the black-eyed youth to sigh.

"That was Theo Nott."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

"Damn it, George!"

Scorpius hissed in pain, his wounded finger clutched in one hand as he bounced away from the length of wood that had inflicted the damage.

George was by his side in an instant, his apologies swift and jumbled as they fell hurriedly from his tongue. "Score, are you alrigh? I'm so sorry, Score, I thought that bit o' wood would hold up under the pressure honestly! Never expected it to snap like that! I mean… Ah!"

The redheaded youth's ear was gripped suddenly by a female hand, Pansy's thunderous expression filling their vision.

"Didn't I say not to put the crate there you twit?" she roared, shaking George's head a little and causing the younger boy to give a holler and slap at her hand. "What were you thinking?"

She dragged the youth away under a torrent of angry mutterings and angrier retorts, leaving only Scorpius and Sparrow standing in the empty area they had been attempting for the past three weeks to transform into a suitable barn. So far, they had accomplished only to re-construct the four walls and half of the roof.

Scorpius blinked up into the light of the sun, wincing as he forced the splinter of wood from the bleeding digit. It had not been the first wound inflicted by the twins accidentally, and he doubted it would be the last. He dropped emerald eyes to watch the offending cut heal swiftly, his finger once again an unblemished white.

"I'd cut your losses now and ditch the stable idea, Scorpius. At this rate you'll be dead come Samhain.*"

Scorpius cast a withering glance at the tiny Veela who had perched herself comfortably on one of the overhead rafters that supported the roof.

"How many times do I have to tell you to get down from there?" he scowled, pointing a finger at the child, "You'll hurt yourself, come down!"

Sparrow rolled her icy blue eyes before jumping to the floor, her wings spreading to catch the impact the fall would have resulted in. Scorpius tweaked one fluffy white wing while it was on display, grinning when Sparrow whirled away and stuck her tongue out at him. He adored the little Veela.

Sparrow froze suddenly, her nose lifting in the air to sniff at the nonexistent breeze that had been stifled for days by an intense heat. Scorpius glanced around the closed room warily. "What is it, little bird?"

Sparrow frowned. "I don't know what that smell is." she announced in a whisper, wrinkling her nose. "I don't like it."

As she spoke, a shadow suddenly darted across the open air above them, causing the Allura to jump and reach over to pull the child against himself. The sudden and unexpected attack happened so swiftly that human eyes could not have followed it.

Something dark and large dropped from the sky to wrap solid arms around Scorpius. It lifted into the air just as quickly, kidnapping both the struggling Allura and the terrified Veela he held clutched against him.

###

"I'm leaving."

Fleur waved a hand absently at the speaker, her eyes not leaving the glittering display of sunlight across the grass she had sprawled herself on. She sighed happily, rolling onto her back and closing her eyes so that the heat from the sun splashed across her face. The south, out of all the places she had come to call home, was perhaps her favourite. It was an area of small villages and dozens of Veela homes and nests. In her eyes, it was a part of the world untouched by strife or war and it was always sunny and beautifully green.

"No, Fleur, I'm leaving."

Fleur frowned and waved again. "Alright, but be home before midnight. I know you're a grown man but Éine always worries about you." The Veela chuckled, her hands running through the soft river of strands that was her hair.

"Fleur."

Something in the tone of the voice that had spoken made her look up, twisting into a sitting position so that she could see into the sky-blue eyes of her brother. He knelt on the grass beside her, taller and broader with ivory wings double the size of her own and hair the colour of buttercups.

"I'm leaving with the other males. The unmated males."

Fleur felt her heart plummet, her eyes suddenly bright in a way they had not been for many, many years. "You mean to tell me that you are leaving to find a mate and you are not coming back."

Gabriel smiled softly, one large hand reaching out to tuck blonde hair behind his sister's ear. "Of course I shall be back. This is my home, you are my home. But it is time for me to settle down and find the person I need to complete me, Fleur. I have felt empty for weeks now. You know as well as I what such a feeling means to our kind. I'll not know peace until I can hold my intended."

Fleur felt her breath leave her in a shaky exhalation, her hands lifting to place slender fingers on her temple. "But I don't know how long that will take, whether you will find them or not," she whispered, her voice determined and soft. "There's no guarantee you'll ever find them."

"No," Gabriel agreed softly, standing suddenly and dragging the smaller woman up with him. He smiled brightly, a flash of white teeth that reminded Fleur of the sweet ten-year-old she had watched play and grow up, "but I can look, can't I?"

Fleur huffed out a dry laugh, rolling her eyes before pushing the younger boy aside with a smile. "That you can, brother. That you can. May you find all that you are searching for."

Gabriel smiled once more, tilting his head to meet Fleur's forehead in a gesture of goodbye. "May you find peace here, sister."

With that, he was gone, taking to the air until others rose to meet him and each was lost to the horizon.

###

A/N: Samhain [pronounced sow-hen] a pagan festival depicting a turning point in the yearly cycle, a time when the line between life and death is thinnest.

Éine: [pronounced ay-nah] an Irish word meaning Bird


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

Scorpius opened his eyes to layers of ice and fog.

He choked on the odourless wisps that travelled around him, through him, into him. Frost surrounded his body here, making him cold in a place he had never before felt even the most basic of temperatures.

For a moment, his mind was slurred, slow and curious as to why his subconscious mind had dragged him to the world of his dreams he had visited only a handful of times before.

But then, it clicked.

He recalled the sudden occurrence with ease, clutching his arms and gasping when they felt only empty, devoid of Sparrow's tiny form that had been wriggling there only minutes ago. Had it been minute's ago?

"Sparrow!"

His voice was weak, rasping into air that was difficult to breathe, that curled around his lungs possessively as he made his way to his blood.

Nothing answered him for a long time, a span great enough for him to believe he was truly alone until hands grasped his arm.

He rounded on the solid connection, eyes popping when he was met with Regulus' black gaze, wide and entirely panicked.

"Thank goodness!" the part Allura heaved a sigh, his shoulders slumping forward. His hair fell over his face, dropping back only when he brought terrified eyes back up to Scorpius' confused features.

"You're a Drifter! By Gods but that makes it so much easier, d'you have any idea how long I've been searching for you just by trying to remember your aura?"

Scorpius could do little but blink at the smaller male, baffled. "Regulus?" he breathed, "are you dead?"

Regulus blinked at him, before growling in agitation and tugging at the blonde's arm. "No, Scor!" he sighed, "I know you don't understand this place, or what you are but that can be explained later. I need you to listen to me."

The taller Allura hesitated only a moment before Sparrow's wide blue eyes flashed in front of his sight and he nodded.

Regulus dragged pale fingers through his hair, clearly at a loss for where to begin, before deciding to blurt the lot out in one go. "I've been searching for you for a little over three days, looking for your's and Sparrow's aura and trying to trace it. The barn stinks of vampires and the only man rich enough to collect those beasts is the man Nott works for. I know him not, so I cannot possibly pinpoint where you've been taken. I need you to wake up Scor, but you cannot let go of my hand, alright? I need to follow you there, catch a glimpse and we'll know where to come get you both."

Scorpius shook his head, unable to understand what the other male was trying to tell him, but grasping Regulus' fingers tightly in his own all the same. With a firm hold of the smaller man's being, Scorpius drove himself from the smokey realm in the only way he knew how; he shut his eyes and hurled himself backwards, breaking through the layers of cloud and nothingness until stone floors met his back and drew a hiss from his clenched lips.

He despised leaving that place.

His eyes opened wide as scents suddenly surrounded him, drawing him onto his feet with a hiss of warning. His silver fins flared from his limbs, shredding the soft pants he had worn when they had been captured... three days ago? He had been asleep for three days? He cleared the useless thought with a growl.

The room was not unlike the main room of a brothel. Materials and fine decorations hung from odd angles and the scent of jasmin flooded his senses, setting him on edge. People shifted around him, most set on edge by the vicious and abrupt awakening while others sidled closer, their noses lifting into the air like hounds and feral grins on their faces.

Vampires.

He snarled as one got too close, lashing put in one swift movement so that his right fin slashed across the beast's cheek, drawing blood and causing him to scatter back with a howl.

A low, rumbling chuckle met his ears and Scorpius' green eyes locked with the man who had made the sound. He was obese to the point where the Allura sincerely doubted he would ever make it from his seat. His thin hair was dark, and flattened to his head with sweat and oils. A growl left Scorpius' lips as he quickly scanned the rest of the large room.

No Sparrow.

The fat man pinched fruit between his stubby fingers as he regarded Scorpius, beady eyes trained on the Allura.

"You seem ill at ease, beast," he rasped suddenly, his voice slick and grating to Scorpius' pointed ears. "Does it not please you that I have provided you with your very own room?"

He gestured to the room and Scorpius could do little but sneer in disgust, a response which drew a sigh from his captor's fat lips.

"I had hoped you would be as timid as the stories suggest of your kind, but your aggression and the unlikely strength of your fins leads me to believe you are not entirely pure. A pity, I had hoped for a full Allura to add to my pretty library of whores." he chuckled once more as a hiss left Scorpius' lips and the pale boy crouched into a stance of attack.

"Not that it matters, they all succumb to the lifestyle eventually. You will see, pretty one, it is a lifestyle that will give you plenty and ask for little but your love in return."

"I am no whore!" Scorpius shrieked, his cry echoing in the room that seemed to becoming warmer, smaller. The sound was by far too loud to him, hurting his skull and causing him to shake his head. The vampires chortled at his scream, slinking into the corners and causing a shiver to wrack Scorpius' body.

"Not yet," the fat man had yet to name himself, yet to even provide a good excuse for what he had done. It was as though the man was oblivious to his crimes, indulgent and feared to the point where he was not questioned and got whichever passing interest caught his eye. A disgusting creature.

"Where is Sparrow?" Scorpius' dropped his arms as the darker creatures backed away, his green eyes fastening to those of the fat man who seemed far more interested in eating whatever he could fish from the bowl by his side than listening to his newly acquired toy.

He grunted in response. "The Veela is too young to be of any use to me, she will be kept in storage until she can work for her keep."

Storage?

Scorpius frowned, his thoughts sluggish, slower than what he was used to. The room was beginning to spin, to dance in front of his eyes until it swayed and he realised that he was no longer on his feet, but in a heap,

It was far too warm.

He gasped as the fat man let out a sigh of contentment, gesturing for his pets to lift him from his seat and all but carry him towards the Allura

Scorpius watched him in a hazy detachment, his nose lifting as the scent of jasmine surrounded him, burned him, made him whine against the cold, stone floor. Oh but the cold felt so good… so good against his heated skin.

"A rather ingenious invention, if I do say so myself. I had not tested it before but it's effects are impressive. Seems you are more pure than I gave you credit for, beast." he chuckled deeply and rubbed his juice-stained hands together. "What you're feeling at the moment is an… impression, if you will, of your own kind's natural Heat; brought upon simply by the pheromone of your own kind, a few additives and a little jasmine to mask the scent."

Scorpius felt his fins flare dangerously close to the legs of the fat man, who cursed and edged back, his shin bleeding. The Allura could not bring himself to feel anything for the achievement, he simply melted into the cool floor and allowed his eyes to flutter to a close. An errant thought panicked chaotically in his subconscious, drawing whimpers of distress from him even as he basked in the beginnings of a Heat he had been certain he would never experience.

Had he held onto Regulus' hand long enough for the other to know where they were?

###

A/N: I apologise for not updating in so long, I really do regret leaving you lot waiting there is nothing worse than following a story that suddenly stops. I assure you my stories will be updated frequently now ^^ Thank you so much for your patience. Blessed be


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: 

"Harry."

No response was received, only silence.

Ron growled low in his throat before breaking fully from the surface of the ocean, his red hair shorn and falling only to his shoulders and his violet-blue scales glittering in the midmorning sun.

He moved towards the beach swiftly, freezing when a round, pink fruit was lobbed in his direction, barely missing his head.

"Go away, I refuse to speak to you!"

Draco chuckled from his seat beside the corner of their home as Ron's gaze narrowed on a small figure seated against a nearby tree, his black hair fanning him like a cloak and his stomach round with child. "Damn it all, Harry, you're actin' like a child!"

"How could you?" Harry's voice was laden with betrayal, his green eyes sparkling in the yellow natural light and his skin dry, devoid of his scales.

Ron rolled his eyes heavenward and took a breath, calmly counting the passing seconds before he aimed a level glare at Draco. "You could bloody well help! Restrain your mate!" The blonde pirateoffered him only a raised eyebrow before ignoring the pair and going back to the reading stones Lupin was placing before him. Ron growled.

"Really, Harry, this is ridiculous. It's just hair, it was getting in the way, I had to cut it!"

"How dare you cut your hair without my permission!"

Ron barely restrained the hiss that built in his throat, the only thing preventing him from grabbing the male and squeezing sense into him was Ron's knowledge of the strange hormones coursing through his friend. "Alright, alright!" the red head seethed, stepping forward swiftly. "I'll not touch a hair on my head until it is fully grown back. Are you bloody well happy?"

Harry sniffed and turned his head away, his pert nose sticking in the air in a gesture funnily similar to Draco. Ron sighed. "You should be dressed and ready by now, Luna and the others will be here soon. Their ship is due come lunch time."

The slighter Allura ignored him in favour of running pale fingers through his tangled mess of hair. Draco chuckled happily. "Leave him be, if he wants to greet Luna looking like something dragged him from the ocean backwards, that's up to him." He gasped as Harry rewarded the statement with a swift tug to his pale blonde hair. Ron snorted as he took a seat beside Lupin, the dark haired Allura smiling as he watched Draco drag Harry's yelling form between his legs to comb his unruly black hair.

With the heat of the sun and the soothing motions of those fingers, Harry soon found himself lulled to a near sleep, drowsier than he had been in days. "Feels nice" he murmured sleepily, drawing a chuckle from the taller blonde. "Of course it does, you haven't combed your hair in a week."

Harry offered only a diluted purr in response, his eyes slipping closed and his shoulders relaxing until his back lay flush against Draco's chest and he was asleep. The silver-eyed pirate sighed, his arms drawing up and around Harry's slender frame as he rocked them both softly, a gentle sway that settled the kicking of the babe in Harry's swollen stomach.

"Odd pair, aren't they?2 Ron murmured quietly to Lupin who grinned up at him. The Allura's once neon scales had darkened since he had last seen him to a honey shade that settled prettily against his skin.

"Heard tha'" Harry grumbled sleepily, his eyelashes fluttering even as he sank lower. Ron merely chuckled in response, his eyes suddenly fixed on the red highlights he had only just noticed running through Lupin's dark locks.

###

Sparrow awoke suddenly, her breath a swift indrawn gasp as eyes as round as saucers struggled to see what lay around her.

The room was black, devoid of any light or furniture save for a mattress that had been pressed against the far wall. No windows marked the walls, leading her to believe that she was, as she had feared, underground.

She struggled to stand, only to shriek when a sharp pain in her wings drew her back to the floor with a bang. She whimpered as she inched the appendages forward, each slight movement causing a spark of pain to lick at her nerves. What she saw made her heart plummet.

The main feathers of her white wings had been clipped, some ripped fully free and dousing the whiteness with splashes of very dark blood. She had been clipped. She could not fly. The young Veela stared around her with tear stained eyes, drawing her knees into her chest as a strangled sob escaped her lips. Before she could help herself, sharp cries were falling from her throat, piercing sounds that were neither bird nor human but horrifically full of despair and pain.

###

"What a place to land."

Gabriel glanced to the head of their flock, the oldest man there who offered them only a distinct shake of his head as the younger boys cheered and hurried into the building before them.

"We cannot deny the young, Berma, allow them this small pleasantry and they will follow you all over the world."

Berma huffed an amused laugh, his black eyes darting to Gabriel curiously as they followed the five other Veela into the main Greeting room of the building. "You do not group yourself as one of the young, Gabriel? Thirty is younger than some of the men who were so eager to land here."

Gabriel merely shrugged, sweeping butter-yellow hair from his eyes as he surveyed the room. It was large, incredibly exotic and unfamiliar in its plush furniture, sweeping material decorations and incense lanterns. A woman sat behind a table watching their approach, her smile soft and tired, though her eyes were bright.

"May I help you?"

Berma settled the five Veela with a swift glare, silencing them enough for Gabriel to hear the soft music that echoed from the ceiling. It was possibly the cleanest, warmest brothel Gabriel had ever encountered, not that he had spent much of his time in those. He had had his devious moments with the other males, sneaking glances through doorways of buildings like this, hoping to catch a glance of a pretty woman, or man. He had been young and reckless once.

Yet however comfortable this house seemed, and however eager his family were in getting to know the people here, he could not shake the unease slowly settling over his shoulders.

It was not until Berma swivelled to glance at him that they heard it, a shriek almost too far away for their ears, let alone the human ears around them. It was a scream unlike the many they had heard before, from those in pain or those lost in anger, it was a scream that forced a growl from their throats and the hackles on all of the Veela present to rise. It was the scream of a Veela infant in danger. Berma turned on the woman behind the desk, a snarl dropping from his tongue.

"Where is the child?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

Oh, it was hot… So hot.. He couldn't breathe…

He writhed against the stone floor, his breaths coming in quick pants, though it did him little good. The air within the room was scented, musky and thick with the horrid decay of vampires. Each indrawn breath stabbed panic into his heart and forced a panicked whimper from his lips.

Laughter reached his ears through a fog, slow and hard to concentrate on, though he knew it was directed at him. At how pitiful he must look, panting on the floor. He raised his lip in a delicate snarl, his head whipping around as he embedded razor sharp canines into the closest thing to him, a vampire.

The creature howled, more shrieks echoing its sound of pain as the stupid things became confused, frantic in their efforts to move away from the Allura. Scorpius spat the blood from his mouth, his stomach heaving as the taste of rot and stilled life landed on his tongue. He scraped his way to his feet and launched himself into his kidnapper, sending the heavy man off balance and onto the floor in a careless heap.

Furious, he lashed out with one fin, thankful for the first time in his life that his were so unlike his father's. His were not frail, nor had they ever been just for swimming. They were a weapon. Blood gushed from an open wound and Scorpius drew back, flinging his arms against the braver occupants of the room who tried to restrain him. He snarled as the fat man's words reached him, words of disobedience and punishment. He was beyond speech.

He snapped his head upwards as a new scent caught his nose. An overwhelming stench polluted with fear and pain.

_Sparrow!_

A small mew answered his hissed question as he pushed his way through the unlocked door of the scented room and found himself in a dark hallway devoid of decoration or windows. He perked pointed ears in the direction of a right veering tunnel before turning and forcing closed the door he had just come from. The beasts inside stayed far away, their teeth bared pitifully as he closed their exit with a snarl and set off at a run.

He ran for miles, his steps heavy and his skin prickling with unrepressed heat as his body continued to shudder violently in the cold corridors beneath whatever building they had been dragged to. He moved swiftly, from one empty corridor to the next, following only the soft whines of a distressed youngling until, suddenly, they stopped.

Scorpius ground to a halt beside an open archway that led in one direction down a dark hallway and in another, to a set of staircase. A woman sat trembling on the stairs, her blue eyes wide with fear. Scorpius ignored her, his fevered mind instead settling on the shapes and forms that were beginning to approach from the hallway.

A man moved into what little light there was, his arms clutched around a tiny form that reeked of blood. And of something… familiar… Something that belonged to him.

Scorpius snarled at the stranger, causing him to snap his head up and his black eyes to widen in disbelief. More men approached at the sound, their presence sparking against the blonde's nerves until he crouched slowly, a low growl a now constant sound from his heaving chest.

"Easy, little one," Scorpius' brought his eyes back to the dark eyed one who had spoken, a guttural hiss making its way past his bared teeth. "Easy, we are not here to fight you, or harm you… Come with us and we can help. We only want to help you and your friend."

"Mine!" Scorpius snarled, racing forward suddenly to snatch the small figure from the man's grip. Sparrow clung to him even as she shivered, her eyes wide with fear as Scorpius drew away from the creatures whose scent followed him like a perfume. Veela. They were Veela.

Something rose up in his chest and the Allura keened painfully as each step away the group he had just scented drove a spike of pain through his heart. Something animalistic in him had smelled something in that group… Something it now desperately wanted.

He fell to his knees with a desperate wail, his arms clutched tightly around the crying Sparrow. He glanced up with glowing green eyes, his fins snapping from his arms with a painful snap that caused the Veela to wince in pity.

"Help…"

The word was hoarse, an inhuman whine filled with pain.

Berma stepped closer to the spiking Allura, the scent of Heat thick in his nose as he tried not to inhale. He knew this was not his mate to take, but instincts were warring heavily with his own basic knowledge. The Allura was beautiful, even in the throes of despair and with tears in his emerald eyes, he was beautiful.

"Stop! Don't touch him!"

The shrill voice pulled him back and he retreated swiftly to his own group. He pushed them back slowly as a new woman made her way down the steps, pausing only to spit at the feet of the receptionist they had forced to show them Sparrow's cell.

The woman scooped back fiery red hair as she kneeled beside the panting Allura, her voice calm and stern as she caught his heated face between her hands and demanded whether or not he was injured. As she worked, another unfamiliar face stalked down the stairs and towards the pair, his black eyes landing on Berma for only a second before he, too, bent to help the Allura.

The Veela child was lifted by the red head suddenly, her cry one of pain that brought the other Veela forward a step in her defence. The redhead glared at them, before the child opened her mouth and spoke soft words in her ear.

"Yeh saved her?"

Berma nodded, "Or tried to, before the Allura came. He sees her as his own and it would have been the end of us to force him away from her."

"An' rightly so!" the young woman snarled as she watched Regulus help Scorpius to stand and lean on him. She cocked an eyebrow at the Veela. " I suppose ye'll be wantin' to know how Sparrow fairs, seein' as she's yer kind, so yer welcome to follow us back to the bar. I'll have no nonsense though! One wrong move and I'll flay yeh alive meself!"

Berma tilted his head in amusement as the boy behind the redhead snorted, his black curls shifting over his face as he half-carried the pale Allura up the stairs. Though it had not been the night he foresaw, Berma was more than willing to follow the strange pair back to wherever it was they were going; if only to catch another glimpse of those dark eyes.

He turned to motion his friends forward, his gaze lingering on Gabriel whose blue eyes had grown dazed as he watched the retreating form of both the blonde Allura and the black-eyed youth. A peaceful night was most definitely not on the cards.

###

A/N: My apologies for the long wait while I fixed this but it was truly bugging me and I had to consider that I had made a wrong decision by killing off Draco. I am happier with it now and I hope you will be too.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"This was a bad idea."

"What was?"

"Taking you away from home so close to the end of your pregnancy, you're positively bouncing and that baby's gonna end up dropping out if you don't calm down fast."

Harry sneered at the silver haired pirate, though it was ruined by the genuine affection in the Allura's pretty green eyes. "Forgive me, master, if I'm excited to see my son after almost two months without him. Besides, this baby is not budging for another month at least, she's lazier than Scorpius."

Draco smiled softly, bringing his arms from the wooden wheel in his grasp to wrap around his mate's slim shoulders. "I'm just as excited to be going to Diagon to see our son, love, I only care for your health. You're certain it's a lass then?"

Harry nodded swiftly, his black curls ruffling against Draco's chest as the pirate reached out an arm to lock the ship's wheel in place. "I'm almost positive. I know there's no way of knowing for sure but I just have this… feeling. She doesn't feel like Scorpius felt, and she's much more giddy on board the Siren. This one's already got a taste for the ocean, like her Sire."

"Glad to hear it." Draco supplied with a wry grin, his eyes flitting towards where his dear friend Severus and the older pirate's mate, James, lounged against the front of the ship, James' hazel eyes glinting even from this distance. The pair were so hopelessly in love it was one of Draco's favourite past times to simply watch them talk. Watch the way James' eyes would follow Severus' stained fingers unblinking through a game of chess, or the way Severus' dark eyes grew bright whenever the slim Allura ran his hands through his cropped black mane.

"Some would consider your infatuation with them eerie."

Draco chuckled at the sing-song voice of Luna as the witch made her way past them carrying two jugs of what could only be Luna's own concoctions. Harry grinned up at the blonde, "leave him be, Luna, Sev and James are a joy to watch, especially their arguments."

"I heard that, brat." Was the dark reply from Severus as he glanced back at Harry from the corner of his eye, making James shake his head in amusement. Harry's only response was to stick out his tongue, a response the small Allura was becoming far too fond of.

"Personally," Luna carried on the conversation as though uninterrupted, hefting one of her jugs onto her hip, "I think you and Draco are much more interesting to stalk. You positively glow." She took off not long after that, her blue eyes bright and her lips tracing lullabies none of them could hear. Harry watched her walk away fondly. "I've missed her."

"Luna belongs on the Siren, to the ocean. As does that wolf of hers and that great bat and your uncle. They are creatures unfit for settling down, love. Know that she'll always come to your aid should you need it, she's always protected you, hasn't she?"

"Aye," Harry nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back against Draco as the pirate ran hardened hands over his stomach. "I miss Scorpius too. I miss my baby, Draco, what if I let him go too soon? What if he's had trouble in Diagon?"

"Then we shall help him through it if he's still in it, or we will watch him pull himself from it. Our son is strong, Harry. He is brave and those fins of his are not the graceful decorations your own often are. He is well armed, though I wish he never feels just cause to use them."

Harry hummed softly in agreement. "You're right… As Lupin said, Scorpius is more than I give him credit for."

Draco smiled, raising one slim hand to point towards the horizon where the beginnings of Diagon could just be seen. "We shall be with him within the hour, beautiful."

###

"Come one step closer to me and I'll slice your stomach open, Veela."

Scorpius snarled the threat at Berma, his tone violent. The dark-haired Veela had made as though to inspect him for injuries, only to have the little blonde throw himself from his chair and back up against the wall. Sparrow, the Allura had allowed him to tend to under supervision, not so far gone in his Heat that he would let the little one from his sight.

He had watched through dazed emerald eyes as Sparrow's white wings had been pasted in healing balm and bound by three of the strange Veela, his little bird drifting into slumber with a relieved smile on her face. Yet when Berma had moved to see to the small cuts Scorpius had obtained from his own fins, the Veela had again become feral, crouching down with his pink lips bared in a snarl that only served to enhance his beauty.

"Alrigh', yeh heard him pretty-boy, our boy knows when he needs seein' ta and obviously, he don' feel the need. Yer settin him on edge an' I dunno why but I'ma have to ask yeh to leave the room. Yer welcome to board upstairs fer the night if yeh wish." The tired voice of the little red headed female made Berma frown, his dark eyes skimming to her as she ordered another taller girl to lift the injured Veela child up the wooden flight of stairs, presumably to put her to bed.

"You really don't know what's wrong with him, do you, any of you?" Accusing dark eyes scanned the tired faces of the redhead and the older woman who had flitted away to fetch them drinks. It was only the dark male who smelled distantly of the Allura that met his gaze full on, his dark eyes a shade blacker than Berma's own.

"It's nothing you can help him with, sir."

Berma made as though to object, his main desire now to make sure that each person was tended to. He was leader of the small group of bewildered men that stood behind him, some edging away from the hissing Allura as though he were some deadly threat, he saw no reason why he should not command this misshapen band of young people either.

But something held his tongue. A voice from a friend he had assumed had been rendered mute from the whole ordeal. Gabriel had remained away from the commotion, his pale blue eyes pinned solely on the green-eyed Allura their entire journey back. Yet now he spoke, a satisfied hiss at having remembered something critical.

"Scorpius Malfoy."

The Allura froze, his glittering green orbs flaring wide and snapping towards the Veela who had spoken. Golden hair glimmered even beneath the harsh lights of the Hogshead's seating area. Blue eyes that struck a chord within him peered into his face, unwilling to look away. Gods save him but he knew those eyes… He knew that silken hair that fell just short of the man's broad shoulders. At a loss for words, Scorpius could only tilt his head in confusion, the heat that was biting through his blood sated, for the barest of moments.

"Do you remember me, little one?"

An inquisitive mew dropped from Scorpius' lips against his better judgement, his harsh stance drooping until he stood upright once more, his razor-sharp silver fins looking almost harmless by his sides. The Heat had begun to build again, scorching his skin and making the tunic he wore seem horribly too much.

Gabriel moved forward slowly, his eyes never leaving the calculating gaze of the man he had once cradled, the Allura he had once adored as a child. Scorpius Malfoy was so very like both his father's, Gabriel felt near idiotic for not seeing it straight away. Those green eyes had not changed an ounce and the scent that radiated from him was that of sunshine and fonder memories. Slowly, Gabriel raised a gentle hand to trace his thumb across the smaller man's cheek, eliciting a low moan from the heated Allura.

_I protected you as a child, beautiful. I was your greatest friend. My name is Gabriel._

Something flared in Scorpius' eyes as Gabriel spoke into his mind, sparking a familiarity he had long forgotten. How often it had been that Gabriel had sought the comfort of Scorpius' mindless, speechless thoughts when the Allura was barely a year old. That comfort existed still, causing the Allura's small mouth to pop open in surprise.

_I know you Gabriel…_

Gabriel smiled, a wide grin that melted as Scorpius' Heat spiked and something in his scent changed, doubling Gabriel's vision and forcing his wings free of where he had tucked them by his spine. They wrapped around the pair as though that had been their only design, shielding them from the room full of onlookers. Grunts of surprise, of confusion met the Veela's ears but he was too far gone, his eyes now doused a perfect pale blue, and glowing in the shade his wings offered.

He had pressed his lips to those of the small Allura before his mind had even begun to think the idea, growling low in his throat when Scorpius pressed back and gripped his shoulders mindlessly, his fins slicing paper thin scratches across the Veela's arms. He lifted the Allura up against the wall he had been crouched by, rumbling his approval when a high keen of pleasure met his ears and tightening his arms further around his friend's slim waist. Scorpius' scent was sure to have flooded the room, so strong was it against Gabriel's heated skin that he could almost taste it.

"By Gods! Is that… Is that my?... Scorpius Peka Malfoy!"

The voice, so unexpected, so familiar and so utterly shrill pulled the pair of them apart to discover that Gabriel's wings had flared behind him, leaving him on view. Those who had been present only moments before were now vanished, running in some other direction to offer the reunited pair some privacy, however that did not mean the room was devoid of people. Scorpius let loose a shriek of shock as he came face to face with a set of identical emerald eyes.

"Papa!"

* * *

A/N: My apologies that this had taken so long to update but I do offer huge thanks to those of you who still show interest in this and who are reviewing and following ^^ This should be updated regularly from now on Happy Readings!


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